In the construction of indexable insert milling cutters, there has always been a great difficulty in designing positive rakes into small diameter end mills particularly with flat top inserts. The major problem has been to achieve radial clearance and to preserve sufficient body mass under the insert. When the insert is placed ahead of center in order to conserve the body mass for support, a flat top insert so positioned results in negative radial rake; also with flat tops. The only way to achieve positive axial rake is to place the insert at an angle to the cutter axis which again eliminates more of the body mass.